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CS Weekly Archive> DVD > 09/21/07
Worth the Price
by scott castle
Vincent Price (MGM Scream Legends Collection)
The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Written by James Whiton and William Goldstein
Dr. Phibes Rises Again
Written by Robert Fuest and Robert Blees
Based on characters created by James Whiton and William Goldstein
Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Terror
Screenplay by Richard Matheson
Based on Edgar Allan Poe's "Tales of Terror"
Madhouse
Screenplay by Greg Morrison and Ken Levinson
Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General
Screenplay by Michael Reeves and Tom Baker (the former directed)
Based on a book entitled Witchfinder General by Ronald Bassett
Nathaniel Hawthorne's Twice Told Tales
Written for the screen by Robert E. Kent
Theatre of Blood
Screenplay by Anthony Greville-Bell
The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Dr. Phibes Rises Again
Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Terror
Madhouse 
Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General 
Nathaniel Hawthorne's Twice Told Tales
Theatre of Blood 
 
Mining the studio's amassed collection of Vincent Price vehicles, MGM has assembled a collection of terror and revenge that showcases some of the genre legend's most memorable fare. Two portmanteau pictures—Tales of Terror and Twice Told Tales—take an anthology approach to loosely adapted, but imaginatively rendered tales by Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Writer Richard Matheson's interpretations of the latter point up Poe's macabre humor and nicely flesh out the short stories. Revenge comedies make up the lion's share of the package, with the thematic killings of The Abominable Dr. Phibes (10 murders styled after the plagues of Egypt) and Theatre of Blood (where a deranged classical actor kills his critics according to Shakespeare) cleverly wrought in an entertaining and tongue-in-cheek fashion. Least successful, but ingeniously conceived, is Madhouse, a film that casts Price's as an icon of screen horror who finds himself the principal suspect in a series of murders based on his films. Questionably accompanying this array of horror pictures is Witchfinder General, a magnificent period piece dramatizing the corrupt exploits of Matthew Hopkins (Price), an effective mass murderer charged with disposing of witches during the English Civil War. All the films are showcased in a handful of featurettes detailing Price's career, and an informative commentary details the history of the Witchfinder.
Vincent Price (MGM Scream Legends Collection)
MGM Home Entertainment
Rated PG; 675 min.
$39.98
Buy it now
Scott Castle is one thesis shy of a master’s degree in film. He’s written two short films, four television scripts, and a handful of short stories. He lives in Los Angeles.
Vincent Price (MGM Scream Legends Collection) courtesy MGM Home Entertainment
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